Roxy Music – “Pyjamarama” (1973)

June 17, 2011 at 7:14 pm (Brian Eno, Music, Reviews & Articles)

A review of Roxy Music’s 1973 single by English DJ John Peel from the Feb. 24, 1973 issue of Disc magazine…

Another dandy pearl from the boys. Opening with ringing chords that stir up strange echoes that include a sound not unlike that of a pencil being moved hither and yon in the neck of a milk bottle, this is another case of don’t know-what’s-coming-next-but-it’s-bound-to-be-good. And it is: Bryan Ferry’s highly distinctive voice, flexible and partially decayed, moves a bit into Bolan territory at times here, but it’s no matter. The record is assembled with wit and imagination and those are commodities in short supply in these troubled times. There’s a kazoo-like flurry from the synthesizer – or it could even be a synthesizer-like flurry from the kazoo. Whichever it be it is a handsome row. The drumming throughout is urgent (that’s a reviewer’s word) in the Keith Moon all-around-the-kit manner. The impressive thing about Roxy Music lies in the feeling they generate that they have great resources in reserve – nothing is beyond their power, anything may be incorporated in their grand musical design. Most fashionable bands pale into twittering nothingnesses beside them. Rock on, man.

John Peel